Joe Manganiello Isn't Sure If He's In The Batman Anymore

There’s been a lot going on with DC Film’s upcoming Batman movie lately. First, Ben Affleck dropped out of directing the film, which is loosely being referred to as The Batman, though he is still expected to star. Matt Reeves, director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, has stepped in to replace Affleck as director.

At first, reports suggested that Warner Bros. was happy with the script that had already been written for The Batman when Affleck was still expected to direct. More recent reports suggest the studio is scrapping that script and rebuilding the story from scratch.

In addition to all of that, Warner Bros. now has a Nightwing movie in development, leading some fans to wonder if Batfleck is going to be replaced by Dick Grayson as the second generation Batman.

But what does all of this mean for the villain of The Batman? Joe Manganiello has been pretty enthusiastic about playing Deathstroke the Terminator in The Batman ever since test footage of him trying on the costume on the Justice League set was revealed to the public, but that was all before the director shakeup and the rumored rewrites.

Fans just got their first update from Manganiello through an interview with Pittsburgh Today Live. The hosts asked Manganiello if he would be playing Deathstroke and Manganiello responded only by saying, ““Umm. Maybe. We’ll see.”

It sounds like all the changes in plans for The Batman left Manganiello’s role unclear. A new script could mean a new villain, which may leave Manganiello out in the cold. However, it is worth noting that Deathstroke is not a classic Batman. While Deathstroke and Batman have often been paired against each other in modern stories, largely because they’re considered to be the top hero and villain hand-to-hand fighters in the DC Universe, Deathstroke isn’t local to Gotham City. He goes where the money takes him, and he actually has a much longer rivalry with Nightwing, dating back to Dick’s days leading the Teen Titans.

Considering that The Batman has a 3.95 out fo 5 ComicBook User Anticipation Rating, making it the 11th most anticipated upcoming comic book movie and 15th most anticipated movie overall among ComicBook.com readers, Warner Bros. should probably figure out a plan for Deathstroke and The Batman soon as fans are already eager to see it.

Let us know how you're looking forward to The Batman by giving it your own anticipation rating below.